The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1887-08-20


forget the vulgarity of things; the
Efforts of intellectual genius which
investigate the mysteries of nature and
transport us t0 the infinite. In the
midst of this radiant life Of which we
make part, we live happy. But all
this beauty, all these flowers and all
these fruits, will pass away. y
THE EARTH WAS BORN, IT WILL DIE.
II will die when its vital elements
shall have been spent. or perhaps 10y
the extinction of the sun In whosciays
lis extinction is suspended. II may
die by the shock of celestial body
which il might meet in its path, but
this end of tine word is the most i'm
probable nf all. 1t may die, we say,
by the slow ABSORPTION of its elements.
In truth, il is probable that the water
and the air are diminishing. The
ocean, like the atmosphere, appears 10
have tn hive been much more consid.
erable than at present. The crust of
the earth is penetrated by the waters,
which combine chemically with tile
rocks. II is almost certain that the
interior temperature of the globe at
ten kiiomcters of depth reaches the
boiling point and impedes = further
descent ut the waters; but the ahsorp-
ti0n will cont Tue with the cooling of
the globe. The oxygen, nitrogen and
carLonic acid. which compose ouI
atmosphere, appear tO suffer likewise
u slow absorption.
THE REFLECTIVE MIND
Can discern through the midst of fu.
tnre centuries the epoch still very dis
tant ID which the earth, deprived OF
the atmospheric vap,r which protects
II against the glazler cold nf space.
concentrating to II the solar rays, US
in q hot house. will he coo ed rs with
the sleep of death. From the summit
of the mountains the mantle of SHOWS
will descend upon the table lands anc
the valleys, casting from them life
and civilization. and covering forever
the cities and nations upon hich II
may fail. Human life and activity
will contract insensibly toward
tho int'rtropical zone. ST. Peters.
burg, Berlin. London. Paris, Vienna,
C"ns.antinople, Rome, will success
fully sleep beneath the eternal shroud.
But perhaps the earth may only die
by the extinction of the sun Onr
tate would &c always the same (would
be always death by cnld) only it would
be longer delayed. The sun
WILL BE ExTINGUIsHED.
1t constantly loses its heat, because
the energy which 1t expends is, SD to
speak, unlmaginAble. The heat emit
I'D by this star would boil per hour
2,J09 millimeters of water at The tenn
peraiurc of ice. Almost all this heat
is lost in space. The quantity which
the planets retain in passing and util-
ize for their life IL insignificant, rela-
tive To TINT which is lost. If, how
ever. the sun actually condenses with
u velocity sufficient To compensate
such u loss, or if the rain of erolites
which must fall necessarily ON its sur
face is enough to make up the differ
ence, this star wi not yet cool; other.
wise. its period of cooling has begun.
This IS more probable because the
spots sthat periodically cover it can
only be regarded as evidence of its
conling. The time will come when
these spots will bcmuch more numer
Gus than now, and will begin To cover
u considerable part of the solar globe
From century tn century, the ob.
scurity will gradually increase. but
not regularly, because the first frag-
ments of crust, which cover the LIQUID
incandesant surface, will continue to
sink and will he replaced by new for
nations. Future ages will behold the
mighty flames diminish and burst
forth again. until the far distant day
in which the cooling inyades definitely
the entire surface Of the star and its
last intermittent and palid rays dis
appear forever. Already we have
seen 25 stars sparkling IN the sky with
spasmodic splendor, become extinct.
Brilliant stars saluted by our fathers
have disappeared from the celestial
maps; the sun is only star aud must
suffer the fate of its sisters. Suns,
like planets, are born 10 die, and in
eternity their long careers will he but
rs the space ot II morning. Then the
sun, an obscure star, but still calid
n. ,l l.o